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Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Senate to vote on Jordan at noon

Judge Adalberto Jordán, nominee to sit on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, is finally due to receive his Senate confirmation vote at noon today. The 11th Circuit covers the states of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama.

If confirmed, Jordán will be the first Cuban-born American to sit on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge Jordán was nominated on August 2, 2011 to fill the 11th Circuit seat left vacant after Judge Susan H. Black took senior status in February. A sitting federal judge for the Southern District of Florida, Jordán was selected and nominated by President Obama with bipartisan support from both Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Marco Rubio (R-FL).

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on his nomination on September 20, 2011. On October 13, 2011, he was reported out of the committee to the Senate floor without opposition.

Due to Republican delays of all of President Obama’s judicial nominees, no further action was taken on Jordán's nomination last year.

With across-the-board obstruction still hampering Senate procedure, Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) was forced to file cloture on Jordán's nomination. A Republican filibuster was broken on Monday by an overwhelming vote of 89-5.

Despite the lopsided vote and continued absence of any opposition to Judge Jordán's qualifications or judicial philosophy, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) insisted on invoking a Senate rule to delay the confirmation vote for an additional 30 hours, further obstructing an extremely qualified and broadly supported nominee from receiving his vote and being able to assume his seat on the bench.

Statistics on Judge Jordán’s Nomination

356: Days the seat has been vacant198: Total days since Judge Jordán was first nominated to fill the 11th Circuit seat126: Days Judge Jordán has waited for a confirmation vote since being unanimously reported out of committee